Press Room: 06 Jul 10
Gift of the Year press release 2010
4D Citiscape wins 'The Judges' Choice Award'
Additional Award announced Gift of the Year judges make their final choice
The final selection process for the 2010 Gift of the Year is complete and the winners across the 16 different categories will be announced on 21st June together with an additional surprise award.
“The entry this year was particularly strong with many exciting new products making the final cut. All categories were fiercely fought and the winners of each are all excellent in their own field. However the judges felt that they wished to highlight an overall winner in terms of innovation and design and asked if they could make their own special Award in this respect. We shall therefore be announcing ‘The Judges’ Choice’ as an additional accolade for one lucky winner when we make our announcement later this month,” says The Giftware Association’s CE, Isabel Martinson.
Although at this stage the list of winners is under a strict embargo, members of the judging panel - which comprised buyers from many household name retailers as well as from successful independent gift and home outlets - were happy to speak about the judging process and about the themes and products that particularly appealed to them personally.
First time judge Sally Trevaskis, owner of Lucas Bond in South London, favoured entries with a “retrospective, vintage feel”. She said “Transactional value has dropped in the last two years, so I do try to look for unusual things at a reasonable price.”
Her shop stocks high end giftware, including British ceramics, so she was delighted to discover mugs designed by Andrew Tanner for Poole Pottery, which were in the Under £10 category.
Tanner’s designs were also to be seen on items in the Fish & Chip collection such as a mushy pea bowl and pie dish in the Made in UK category. “It’s good to see an old brand like Poole Pottery doing something a bit more light hearted,” Sally reflected.
Rachel Davies of Scotts & Co also recognised a strong nostalgic theme across all categories. Rachel feels in the current economic climate that pricing is critical and says that Scotts has been looking at its pricing architecture across the brand. This being the case she was pleased to see what she described as ‘good pick up lines’ in all categories and not simply in ‘Gifts Under £10’.
Personal favourites for Rachel included the Amore cutlery place setting from Culinary Concepts entered in the Kitchen and Dining category, which she described as a ‘special purchase’, and ‘SnoozeShade’ a buggy cover from SnoozeShade (Really Simple Ideas) which she felt to be “so practical all mothers would be grateful to receive it as a gift”.
“With the economy as it is consumers are less likely to buy superfluous things. They want gifts which are practical, good design and good value will always win out in the end,” commented Isabel Saiz of The National Gallery who felt that this year’s competition had attracted and even ‘better’ level of entries than for some years previously.
For Isabel, Joseph and Joseph’s “beautifully designed” ‘Hands On’ salad bowl in the Kitchen and Dining category and Peers Hardy Ltd’s ‘Inflatable London Zoo’ – an activity pack for children using balloons – were both strong contenders as was the ‘Truly Scrumptious tea party set’ by Talking Tables Ltd – a witty and unconventional take on the traditional tea party.
Witty products were also a hit with another new judge, Tina Botterill of Oswaldtwistle Mills who said that she had ‘thoroughly enjoyed’ the judging process and particularly liked products such as the ‘ISHey Mugs’ from Splimple Limited which made her laugh.
A full list of the 2010 Gifts of The Year will be available online from 21st June on the competition website www.giftoftheyear.co.uk. The winning and highly commended gifts will be displayed on The Giftware Association’s stand (A26) at the Home & Gift show in Harrogate in July and also at Autumn Fair Birmingham in September.
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Top Drawer Autumn
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